


Of French Notes and Puppies

by Diary



Category: Glee
Genre: Awkward Conversations, Bechdel Test Pass, Canon Character of Color, Canon Gay Character, Canon Jewish Character, Canon Lesbian Character, Canon Queer Character of Color, Family, Friendship/Love, Getting Together, Hudson-Hummel Family, Kurt Hummel-Centric, Letters, Matchmaking, POV Kurt Hummel, POV Male Character, POV Queer Character, Past Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel, Post-Season/Series 02 AU, Romance, Stuffed Toys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-21
Updated: 2017-11-21
Packaged: 2019-02-05 00:27:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12782916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diary/pseuds/Diary
Summary: Repost. An AU look at Kurt and David getting together post-season 2. Complete.





	Of French Notes and Puppies

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Glee.

“Your French is pathetic,” Kurt mutters.

“Whatever, Hummel,” Azimio Adams says with his hand under his chin. “I ain’t never going to France, y’know? I’m only taking this class, ‘cause, my grandma came from there, and my parents wanted me to take it in memory of her. If I had my way, I’d be sitting with K in Spanish class; what I hear, your Glee teacher is really easy to score a B with.”

Feeling his eye coming close to twitching, Kurt points out, “Karofsky isn’t in Mr Schue’s class.”

“Oh,” Azimio says. “Guess that’s why my boy is barely pulling a C. Shame. If it weren’t for that and English, he’d have a 4.0.”

Frankly, Kurt doesn’t give a flying frig if David Karofsky is pulling a 4.0 or a 1.0. “I’m going to go get one of the dictionaries, and you can just sit there. You obviously don’t even want to learn how to properly conjugate verbs, and I don’t care enough about your future to try to make you. Doing this myself is the easiest way I can see to get out of this town.”

Slumping his head down onto the desk, Azimio’s only response is, “’Kay.”

As much as Kurt hates having to do all the work, he knows it’s pointless and counterproductive to complain. In the past, he’s gotten teachers to agree to grade him solely for his work and let his so-called partners flounder, and every time, despite looking him in the eye and promising, the teachers have changed their minds when the others whined. He’s gotten to a point where he simply tells himself he’ll be living comfortably, possibly even famously, while the rest of them are forced into dull jobs of menial labour.

When he comes back with the dictionary, Azimio points to a neatly folded up paper on Kurt’s desk. “Someone flew you a present, man.”

Gingerly, Kurt pokes it. When it seems it’s neither coated in unspeakable fluids nor bound to explode, he carefully picks it up and opens it.

In neat French, it reads:  **Do you like D. Karofsky? I think he has a bad case of puppy love when it comes to you.**

Shoving him into lockers, slushying him, and threatening to kill him does not strike Kurt as a case of puppy love.

It’s true Dave has been generally much less of a Neanderthal since Kurt came back, but as far as Kurt can tell, Dave is grateful for his forgiveness and otherwise couldn’t care less if Kurt was alive or dead. He’s come to the conclusion Dave’s confusion and repression of his sexuality had caused his subconscious to force him to do something that would undeniably out him to the one person who might have some chance of understanding and helping him.

He’s glad his mother’s college psychology books have had a practical use for something other than him to cling to and cry when he finds himself missing her.

Looking around, Kurt realises he has no idea who could have thrown it, but maybe, it wasn’t meant for him. It could be from one girl to another. For whatever reason, Dave seems to be popular with the female population of McKinley.

“What is it?” Azimio grabs it. “Oh, “it’s in French.”

Rolling his eyes, Kurt points out, “This is French class.”

“So, somebody flew you a note that’s in French,” Azimio says. He does something with his eyebrows. “Is it a love letter? ‘Cause, there can’t be a girl that stupid and blind in here.”

Grabbing the letter, he crumbles it up and takes it to the trashcan.

Really, if it was meant for a girl, he’s doing her a favour.

0

Banging her gavel, Mercedes declares, “Meeting adjourned.”

Grabbing his backpack, Kurt heads to the back of the room where Finn is saying, “I think you’re scared.”

Dave grins, and Kurt feels startled in spite of himself. Dave has been displaying such an expression more and more lately, and even though Kurt can tell the difference between ‘I’m about to take sadistic joy in harassing others’ and ‘I’m actually happy’ smiles, he still feels automatically wary when he sees something besides a neutral, somewhat harsh expression on Dave’s face.

“Keep telling yourself that, Hudson. Come Monday, you’re going to eat your words.”

“Oh, yeah? Come over tomorrow, then. We can watch it together.”

Shaking his head, Dave’s face changes. “Thanks for the offer. I’d invite you over, but the electric company is still pissed about my home-improvements. My dad’s gotten to the point where he’s talking to a lawyer friend.”

“He still won’t let you talk to them?”

“No, he’s under the impression that I’ll just make the situation worse.”

“Can’t imagine why, dude,” Finn jokes. “Really, come over. Burt’s making hotdogs, and we can watch it on the big screen in the living room.”

“You’re forgetting your stepfather and brother.”

Kurt doesn’t like the idea of Dave Karofsky in his house, but- “I plan on hiding out at Rachel’s house until this game frenzy has blown over,” he says. “And we can talk to my dad. If you behave, he’ll be willing to give you another chance.”

“Awesome,” Finn says. Grinning, he reaches over and shoves Dave. “Come over, dude. Until your dad gets the electricity turned back on, you’re not going to be able to know who won until you get to school on Monday. And I imagine you’re tired of eating fast food. Burt makes the best hotdogs ever.”

“I’ll talk to my dad,” Dave says.

0

“I invited Dave Karofsky over,” Finn announces at dinner.

Resisting the urge to smack him and tell him this is definitely not the best way to approach such a delicate subject, Kurt quickly interjects, “Actually, Finn and I both did.”

Both parents still have their scowling faces on, but now, they’re too busy looking at him with concern to tear Finn to shreds.

“He and Finn have some stupid bet over the football game tomorrow,” he explains. “And I think this will be a good opportunity for him to clear the air with the two of you.”

“Buddy-”

“Dad, I’ve forgiven him. I’m not scared of him anymore. And I’m certainly not making any excuses for what he did, but I think you’d like him if you gave him a chance. He’s turned out to be a pretty good friend for Finn.”

“And you’re sure you’d be okay with this, baby,” Carole inquires.

Shrugging, he says, “That shouldn’t be a consideration. I’m staying at Rachel’s until you call and tell me it’s safe to come home.”

“You shouldn’t have to-”

“Dad, whether Dave’s here or not, I’m going to Rachel’s. If you try to make me stay while the game’s going on, I will report you and Carole to child protective services.”

His father doesn’t look happy, but he nods. “If he puts on toe out of line, I’ll kick him out,” he warns Finn.

“And next time, we expect you both to talk to us before you invite someone other than your glee friends over,” Carole adds.

“Sorry,” Finn says.

“I am, too,” Kurt says.

0

On Monday, there’s another note neatly folded into an airplane on Kurt’s desk.

He pokes Azimio with a pencil. “Do you know who left this?”

“Huh, you gotta another one,” is Azimio response. “Wonder if they wrote this one in English.”

“You didn’t see who put it here?”

“Man, I’ve been trying to see down Bessie Edwin’s shirt for the last five minutes, not that you’d understand that. I mean, you can see a shirtless boy whenever you want, but those of who ain’t gay have to do all kinds of shit just to see a girl’s.”

Kurt opens it. In neat French, it reads:  **Karofsky is really good with numbers; if you dated him, you’d never have to try to figure out a budget for yourself.**

Looking around, Kurt can’t see anything out of the ordinary, and sighing, he crumples the paper up.

Honestly, he thinks, I’m not sure if I should be impressed with this person’s practicality or worried for their friend’s romantic future. Dating someone because they’re good at math seems like a bad idea.

0

After another hour of him doing all the work, class is thankfully over.

“Hey, Hummel.”

“Oh, dear God, what,” Kurt exclaims.

It took him months to feel comfortable around Finn and Puck after they stopped throwing him in dumpsters, and he doubts he’ll ever get to the same point with Azimio and Dave, even though the neither ever actually threw him in a dumpster.

 Azimio simply looks at him like he’s crazy. “Could you do me a favour? I’ll translate the verbs tomorrow.”

“No.”

“Aw, c’mon. It ain’t hard to find things in the dictionary and copy them, just boring. Besides, I want a good grade in this class. If I say I’ll do something, I plan on doing it right.” 

He’s inclined to believe Azimio. Their teacher steadfastly refuses to give athletes preferential treatment and, much to Coach Sylvester’s horror, is resistant to stair-related accidents. Azimio has been in her classes for two years, and whenever he isn’t partnered with someone, his grades are acceptable enough he’ll occasionally brag about them.

“What do you want?”

Putting a packet of gummy worms on Kurt’s desk, Azimio asks, “Give this to Karofsky for me?”

At Kurt’s look, he says, “Look, Nicki Jordan is in your PFLAG thing, now, and she wants to go all psycho on me. You know that I always give my boy some candy and soda before the meeting starts. If I don’t find a way to get this to him, he’s not gonna come to dinner this Sunday, and my mama’s gonna disown me. He’s the only one who legit likes her crazy food.”

He’s aware Dave always shows up to the meeting with candy and soda. Usually, Dave will get a bite or two in before Brittany and Becky forcibly liberate the sweets. On occasion, they’ve also taken the soda, too. Quinn has protested a few times, but Dave has always simply shrugged, and he once mentioned a little cousin and the path of least resistance.

For some reason, the fact Azimio is the one who gives Dave the candy and soda is surprising. He’s not sure why.

“What about the soda?”

Azimio shrugs. “Hopefully, this’ll be enough to get him to my house on Sunday. We have root beer there. ‘Least, I think we do. Damn it, why does he have to have such weird tastes? This’d be so much easier if he liked normal things. I mean…”

Rolling his eyes and tuning Azimio out, Kurt stuffs the gummy worms into his book bag.

For some reason, he finds himself buying a can of root beer from the vending machine on his way to the room they’re using for PFLAG.

In the room, Finn and Dave are sitting together in the back.

Walking over, he sets the can and candy down. “Azimio asked me to give these to you. Apparently, he’s afraid of Nicki Jordan ‘going psycho’, as he put it.”

Dave groans, and his eyes travel over to a girl a few rows in front of them. Wearing a pair of denim overalls over a white t-shirt, she’s petite, slightly taller than Rachel, and has an olive complexion with her black hair in a braided bun.

“I am going to kill him,” Dave mutters.

“I’d consider it a favour if you did,” Kurt responds. “I haven’t a decent French partner in ages.”

Dave catches his eyes, smiles, and raises his root beer can.

Kurt is momentarily struck by the hazel eyes.

Giving what he hopes is a smile rather than a grimace, he quickly turns and heads to the front of the room.

When he was first discovering his sexuality, he’d occasionally be stricken by something about other boys. One of them would smile, and no matter who it was, he’d inwardly react. There were hands, feet, noses, and so many other things.

So, apparently, that still occasionally happens, he thinks.

He wouldn’t mind so much if it weren’t for the fact the boy’s eyes who have always caused unease, at best, and fear, at worst, are now falling under the category of ‘wow’.

The meeting goes normally but, unfortunately ends, with no ideas for how to raise money aside from training birds to sing and sending them to give out Valentines.

He’s almost packed when Dave comes over. “Thanks. For bringing the stuff to me.”

“It wasn’t a problem.”

“Do you have a minute,” Dave asks.

Finn comes over, and Kurt says, “Sure. Finn, I’ll catch a ride with Mike.” Tossing the keys, he adds, “If you mess with my pre-sets, I’ll tell Carole about a certain website you’ve been visiting lately.”

“Got it,” Finn says. Fist-bumping Dave, he says, “Later, dude.”

Once Finn and everyone else have cleared out, Dave licks his lips, sets his backpack down, and digs out a folder. “I was looking at the school’s budget.” Opening the folder and pointing to things as he talks, he says, “And Coach Sylvester is getting 20% more than she’s supposed to, and 10% is allotted to the Dumbledore Appreciation Club, which doesn’t have any members. I was thinking, if you could convince Principal Figgins to redirect the 30% to us, that would really help. We’d still need-”

“And you didn’t think to bring any of this up during the meeting,” Kurt demands.

“No. I’m here like we agreed. But I’m not going to start sharing my feelings with everyone.”

“Since when do budgets fall under the category of feelings?”

“If people see me helping keep this club up, they’ll think it’s because I like it or something.”

“Then, why are you trying to help?”

“Because, I don’t want my dad to worry,” Dave answers. “I’m talking to one of his friends, but he’s happy that I’m also in PFLAG. If it gets disbanded, he’ll be upset.”

For a moment, the friend statement is confusing, but Kurt remembers Dr Karofsky is a psychiatrist. He’s not a completely sure this means Dave is in legitimate therapy or not, but he tells himself to focus on the budget. “You’re going to have explain this to me using very small words,” he says.

Kurt is good at math. He’s just not at Calculus-level brilliance. 

“Can’t your Glee teacher help you?”

Flashing back to 5,000x.25=20,000, Kurt shakes his head. “No. As great as Mr Schue is, God help any student who unwittingly comes to him for math help.”

“Then, talk to Mrs Eleanor,” Dave says.

Mrs Eleanor is the school’s economics teacher whose surname is eighty letters long and impossible for everyone but Sam to pronounce. Instead of letting the students shorten it like Mr Schue does, she simply uses her first name in its place.

“Okay,” Kurt agrees.

Nodding, Dave takes the printout out of his folder and pushes it over.  

0

Adjusting her glasses, Mrs Eleanor declares, “This is very impressive.”

“It was submitted anonymously. I can’t tell if it’s a good idea for our budget crisis or not.”

“Assuming Sue doesn’t interfere, it’s a very good idea.” Suddenly, she chuckles. “This has David Karofsky’s handprints all over it.”

Kurt is going to assume she means figuratively. The idea a teacher can see literal fingerprints without special equipment is a creepy, scary thought. “Oh?”

Nodding, she gets out two pieces of paper and hands him a pen. “Okay, I’ll explain this to you. If I start to go too fast, tell me.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”

0

Next week, after it’s announced the budget is temporary stable, Eli Gonzalez says, “I think I need to tell my mom.”

Eli loves dressing femininely. Before PFLAG started, he hung out with Brittany, and she would help him find dresses and teach him how to pick out the right kind of makeup. When it started, she dragged him to the meetings. Eventually, Santana asked who in the hell he was and what he was doing hanging around.

Kurt wishes he could offer some form of help other than just listening, but he’s found usually, doing anything more than listening causes problems.

“But what if she is okay with it, and she makes me all sorts of neat dresses, and then, she wants me to wear them to school? She didn’t even finish high school, she doesn’t know all the shit that happens.”

From the back, Dave looks up from the cards he’s playing with Finn. “I don’t have an opinion on whether you should tell or not, but if you wear a dress or whatever to school, the Bully Whips will protect you.”

Nodding, Santana says, “Totally. It’s been forever since I’ve managed to make a jackass cry.” A maniacal grin forms on her face.

At Eli’s terrified face, Dave calmly says, “It doesn’t have to be Santana. You can ask for me or Lauren. Just don’t tell anyone if she doesn’t wear her beret.”

Glowering, Santana declares, “The berets are awesome.”

“You only say that due to some residual, twisted loyalty to Sue,” Quinn mutters.

“I like them,” Rachel pipes up.

“Of course, you do,” Quinn says with an eye-roll.

The rest of the meeting is spent discussing whether or not the berets constitute child abuse or not.

0

There’s a paper airplane on his desk.

Glancing over at Azimio, Kurt sees the boy in question is busy eye-flirting with a chunky redhead wearing bright blue braces.

Kurt wonders when Azimio went from someone who slushied indiscriminately to someone who actively turns into an unlikely Casanova around any girl who so much looks at him.

Opening the note, it reads in neat French:  **Have you noticed that D. Karofsky is taking on a lot more Bullying Whip shifts involving you, lately? He looks like a big puppy when he follows you around.**

Well, obviously, the letters are meant for him rather than some girl.

“Does that say something about puppies?” Leaning over, Azimio peers at the letter. “Is somebody selling puppies? ‘Cause, now that my sister is moving in with her boyfriend, my parents have finally said I could have one. I want a little multi-coloured one that has long ears and-”

“No one is selling puppies.” He wonders how it is Azimio can recognise the word ‘puppy’ but seems to just gloss right over his best friend’s surname.

He had noticed the Bully Whips had start focusing on him more lately, and Dave was usually the one assigned to him. Somehow, though, he hadn’t managed to make the connection between Dave taking his duty seriously to Dave having a huge case of puppy love as the mysterious note sender has, and he wonders if he should be concerned someone seems to think Dave is into a boy.

“I mean I love Davey junior, but a real one would be so much better than a stuffed one.”

Kurt looks over. “Wait, what?”

“Oh, you’re still listening.”

“Not particularly,” Kurt responds. “You have a stuffed dog named Davey junior?”

Shifting his eyes, Azimio answers, “No.”

“Right,” Kurt says. “I’m going to do the assignment now.”

Thankfully, Azimio is quiet for the rest of the class, and when it’s over, Dave comes in.

“Hey,” Azimio says. “Ya here to walk Hummel to PFLAG?”

“I’m not going today. I need to talk to you, man.”

“What,” Kurt demands. “We have an agreement.”

Dave looks at him, and Kurt automatically steps back, but then, he realises the look on his face is similar to the one he had at prom.

“You wanna tell? Go ahead. It’s my dad,” Dave hisses.

0

“Dave called me,” Finn says. “His dad was in a car accident, but besides a broken arm, he’s fine. They want to keep him in the hospital for a few days.”

“That’s good,” Kurt says.

“Yeah. So, I was thinking, even though Azimio’ll be there, maybe we should go, too.”

“We’ll need to ask Dad and Carole, first.”

0

At the hospital, Dr Karofsky holds his son’s hand with his non-broken arm. Azimio is sitting on the other side across from Dave.

Noticing a stuffed puppy sitting on the bed, Kurt warns himself not to smile or laugh as he takes in what he presumes is Davey junior. It’s well-worn, black in colour with white dots, and has floppy ears. One of its eyes has been replaced with button.

 “Ah, hello, “Kurt, Finn.”

“Hey, Dr Karofsky,” Finn says. “Um, I bought sodas.” Handing a root beer to Dave, he tosses a Pepsi to Azimio. “We were wondering if there was anything we could do.”

“Thank you. Just make sure David eats lunch and doesn’t worry himself too much during school. He’s going to be staying with the Adams’s until I’m released.”

“Dad-”

“David, I don’t want you staying alone.”

“The electricity’s back on, and I promise I won’t mess with anything until you get back.”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about.”

At Dave’s look, his father concedes, “That’s mostly not what I’m worried about.”

“K, you’re coming with me. Deal,” Azimio orders.

“It’s fine if you need to miss some PFLAG meetings,” Kurt adds.

“He’ll still go to them,” Dr Karofsky declares. “I think he’s secretly enjoying them, to be honest.”

“I plead the fifth,” Dave sighs.

Laughing, Mr Karofsky squeezes his hand. “It’s getting late. Why don’t you and Azimio head home to pack whatever you need for a few days?” He looks over at Kurt and Finn. “Thank you for showing your concern.”

Standing, Azimip grabs the stuffed puppy, goes over to the other side, and hugs Dr Karofsky. 

Dave hugs his father.

“Call me when you get to the Adams’s and before you go to bed,” Dr Karofsky says. “I love you, David.”

“I love you, Dad.”

As the four leave, Finn pats Dave on the back. “Hey, call me if there’s anything Kurt or I can do, okay?”

Dave nods, and Azimio and Finn share a high-five hug.

Kurt wants to know why Azimio dragged a stuffed animal to the hospital, but he’s socially conscious enough to realise now is really not the time to ask.

0

On Wednesday, Dave comes over after the meeting. Once everyone is gone, he says, “I told my dad.”

It takes a moment to process the statement.

“Oh. Are you okay? How did he take it?”

“Yeah,” Dave answers. “He had his suspicions. He just wanted me to tell him when I was ready.” He makes a sound of frustration.

Kurt can definitely empathise.

“But he’s okay with it?”

Sitting down, Dave answers, “I don’t think it was ever really a question of that. It’s just- there was a little part of me that was afraid of him knowing, and a large part of me that just didn’t want to deal with it. But he’s fine with it. He asked a million questions and started giving lectures about all sorts of stuff having to do with boys and dating and other things. Some of it was the exact same things he said when he thought I was straight.”

Laughing, Kurt feels himself grin. “My dad never even bothered with giving me lectures about girls.”

“Consider yourself lucky.”

“Have you told Azimio?”

“No. I didn’t want to tell my dad, but-”

Sitting down, Kurt nods. “I understand.”

“Thanks,” Dave says. “I know I’ve said I was sorry, but I haven’t really thanked you. I-I know you could have made things a lot easier for yourself, but even after everything, you’ve kept trying to help me. And I’m not ready to let people here know, but I’m gay. It’s just a part of who I am. And I probably wouldn’t be able to say that if it weren’t for you.”

Feeling a little light-headed, Kurt nods. “I’m happy for you.”

Nodding, Dave gets up. “I’ll see you later.”

0

“Oh, for God’s sake.”

There’s another paper airplane.

Azimio is over by the chunky redhead.

In neat French, it reads:  **I think D. Karofsky would fix that cracked window in Glee club if you asked him.**

0

He catches Dave during free period. “I have a favour to ask.”

Looking at him in surprise, Dave responds, “Okay.”

“How good are you at fixing windows?”

A smile appears on Dave’s face. “Good.”

Crap, Kurt thinks. He could deal with the eyes, but now, the smile, too? The universe can give him a break and stop making him notice, objectively speaking, the boy who used to make his life a living hell has some attractive features.

“Once, Z broke a lady’s window when we were playing ball, and I got her to agree not to call our parents if I could fix it for under twenty dollars,” Dave tells him. “We went to the hardware store, spent fifteen dollars, and I fixed it as good as new in two hours.”

Kurt notices Dave does actually wiggle somewhat like a happy puppy.

For the record, Kurt hates Blaine Warbler, the universe, and whoever’s responsible for the allotment of school budget. He’s not sure if it’s in that order or not, but those three are all at the top of his list.

“We have a cracked window in Glee. And we can’t afford to have a professional fix it, but if you could do it, I’m sure Mr Schue would pay you.”

“I like fixing things,” Dave says. “When’s a good time for me to do it?”

0

“What is all this stuff? And how much did it cost?”

“It’s stuff to fix the window. Most it I already had a home,” Dave answers. “Stop worrying about money, Fancy. I take thing apart and put them back together for fun.”

“I’m still a little shocked that you’re willingly helping Glee.”

“Why?” Dave looks up from his digging through the toolbox. “I mean- I know we aren’t friends, but you and I have been helping each other lately. Finn and I are friends. And I don’t hate your club anymore, and most of them seem to have gotten over their problems with me.”

“Do I need to leave?”

“Do whatever you want. I’m used to an audience.”

Settling more comfortably in his chair, Kurt asks, “How’s your dad doing?”

“Okay. Of course, he had to break the arm he writes with.”

“He writes with his arm.”

Dave shoots him an amused look. “You know what I meant.”

Kurt laughs. “Can he type one-handed?”

“Actually, he can write with his other hand. He taught himself in college. It’s just a lot harder for him to read his writing. It’s too bad he’s not like Z.”

“Azimio?”

“Yeah. He’s ambidextrous.” He laughs. “But even though Z’s writing is easy to read with both hands, for some weird reason, his handwriting is different. He usually writes with his left hand, and it’s casual. When he writes with his right hand, it’s a lot straighter.”

“Huh. When I was little, I tried to paint my nails with my left hand. Eventually, my dad got tired of me getting nail posh all over myself and everything else. He started painting the nails on my right hand for me. Now, Mercedes does it.”

“I’m going to be quiet.”

“Good,” Kurt says. “Didn’t you paint Santana’s nails once?”

“Not that I remember. Move back. I don’t want something to accidentally hit you.” Dave withdraws a hammer. “I painted my little cousin’s once, though. And Santana made me let her paint my toenails.”

Kurt tries to repress a giggle.

“I guess that’s one good thing,” Dave muses. “If I ever do, you know, date, I won’t have to worry about that happening again. Why do girls even want to paint their boyfriend’s toenails?”

“I wouldn’t be too sure. I painted Blaine’s toenails. And I think he might have had something to do with all of his friends letting me paint their nails.”

Glancing over, Dave licks his lips. “Safe guess.”

It doesn’t take long for the window to be back in perfect shape.

For some reason, Kurt can’t help but wish it had taken longer.

0

Eli appears at school in an adorable Kitty Foyle dress with expertly applied makeup.

Of course, because, this is McKinley High in Lima, Ohio, a boy can’t just go about his business wearing the adorable dress his mother made him.

After school, Kurt is heading to Glee after school, and he sees Dave walking Eli out to wait to the buses. A jock from the wrestling team approaches from behind, and Kurt opens his mouth to shout a warning. However, before he can, Dave turns and promptly slams the jock against a nearby locker.

Kurt never thought there’d come a day he was genuinely happy to see David Karofsky slam a person into a locker.

A split-second later, Lauren appears and drags Eli to safety.

“They’ve definitely turned you gay,” the wrestler hisses at Dave.

“If that’s true, you just got slammed into a locker by a gay guy,” Dave responds. “I think that makes you the bigger loser in this scenario.”

Colour me suitably impressed, Kurt thinks.

“Not denying it, huh, Karofsky?”

“I’d have to care enough about you and your loser friends.”

Lauren reappears, and Dave backs off. “All yours.”

“Thanks, Karofsky.” Lauren grabs her fellow wrestler and starts dragging.

Seeing Kurt, Dave says, “Find your brother and tell him to bring all the sympathetic basketball players to the next Bully Whip meeting. Azimio and I will get some football players.” Sighing, he adds, “It was lucky Lauren was here. We need to reorganise our strategy as quickly as possible.”

“Okay,” Kurt says.

Eli wasn’t physically hurt, and the wrestler isn’t going to get away with what he tried to do. Still, Kurt is realistic enough to realise he’s unlikely to ever see Eli wandering around in a dress for the rest of their high school life.

Sometimes, he wonders if It Gets Better is just something people are desperate to believe even as reality is saying, No, it really doesn’t, and I’m not sorry.

0

He and Finn are walking when Finn says, “Oh, basketball.”

Looking over, Kurt feels his mouth go dry.

Dave and Azimio are playing basketball, and the former is shirtless.

He’s big and solid and-

Shit.

“Hey, Hudson,” Azimio calls. “Play with us.” He tosses the ball.

Kurt is too busy ordering his eyes to look away, look away from the closeted boy who once made his life a living hell and is all big and strong-looking, look away, now, Kurt, to see Azimio’s aim is off, and suddenly, he feels the ball make contact with his face.

Rubbing his face, he stares at the ball on the ground.

When he looks up, Dave is standing between Finn and Azimio. “Dude, he should have aimed better, but he meant for you to catch it.”

“I’m fine,” Kurt says. Walking over, he puts a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “It was obviously an accident.”

Looking at him with surprising but obvious concern, Dave asks, “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” He reminds him to look at a point on Dave’s forehead. No eyes, no lips, and above all, no chest. Turning to Finn, he says, “I’m going to sit down for a while. I think you playing with them is a good idea.”

“Are you sure? Maybe we should-”

“Finn, play some basketball. I’ll sit down over there.” He points. “You’ll be able to see if I suddenly start spurting blood or pass out, okay?”

0

During his free period, he sits down across from Blaine at the Lima Bean.

He hates the fact the pain and irrationality is no longer present.

“I’m guessing this has to do with a boy,” Blaine says with a sad smile.

“Kill me now,” Kurt pleads.

Reaching over, Blaine squeezes his hand. “What’s the problem? Please, tell me he’s not straight?”

“No, just closeted.”

“Well, that doesn’t necessarily mean everything’s hopeless.”

“It’s David Karofsky,” he blurts out.

For a long moment, Blaine is quiet and expressionless, and then, finally, he starts to ask, “Have you-”

“No! And how is that even a question?”

“Okay. I’m incredibly biased. In more ways than one, obviously. But you liking him, that’s-”

“If you say ‘okay’ or anything synonymous with it, I will have you committed,” Kurt snaps. “I’ve forgiven him, but I haven’t forgotten the fear. I haven’t forgotten having to leave my friends or the financial strain everybody, my dad, Carole, and Finn had to go through just to send me to Dalton. I haven’t forgotten that he literally wanted to kill me once.”

“Do you still feel that fear?”

“No,” Kurt admits. “I can’t even wrap my mind around him intentionally hurting anyone without a good reason, now. And that’s a little bizarre.”

“You liked Finn. Even though he bullied you, too.”

“Finn and them were just being mindless idiots,” Kurt corrects. “It was never that personal with them. And I was never scared for my life with them.”

“If I’m honest, I don’t like the idea of you with Karofsky. In fact, I officially and strongly advise against it. But whether you make a move or not, that’s not a call anyone but you can make. You have to weigh things in your mind, and whatever you do or don’t do, I suggest you follow your instincts.”

“Blaine, I like a boy who I once thought might genuinely kill me. What does that say about me?”

“Defending you, not him, it means that he’s a teenager who was in an incredibly dark place, and now that he’s out of that place, you’re willing to give him a chance and see who he really is. And you like the person you see.” Shrugging, Blaine says, “If you can’t truly put the past behind you, you definitely shouldn’t pursue this. If you can, though, that says something good about you. I don’t think I’d ever be able to forgive the bullies at my old school enough to sit down in a public place with them. You’ve spent time alone with him and are on friendly terms with him.”

“I’m so confused,” Kurt mutters.

Blaine gives him a sympathetic look. “I’ll help you in any way I can, but I’m not sure what you need.”

Nodding, Kurt says, “For one thing, I need to get back to class in ten minutes. Thank you for meeting me on your free day.”

Taking a breath, Blaine says, “Just a statement of fact: I love you. And when we both find boyfriends, when we both find the person we’re going to marry, I’ll still love you. That’s never going to change, Kurt. Whatever you do, I want you to be happy.”

“I’ll always love you, too,” Kurt says.

Getting up, Blaine walks over and kisses him on the forehead. “Call me later, okay?”

Reaching up and squeezing his shoulder, Kurt responds, “Okay. Thank you.”

0

“Do you like someone?”

As soon as the words are out of his mouth, Kurt realises he shouldn’t have uttered them. “Sorry. That’s really none of my business.”

He starts to leave, but Dave says, “Kurt! Wait.”

Turning around, Kurt sees Dave has temporarily abandoned the science project he’s been building.

Looking around, Dave says, “Yeah. I do. I’m not going to say who.”

Nodding, Kurt sits down in a chair, and Dave sinks back down onto the floor.

“There’s a boy I’ve liked for longer than I think is healthy,” Dave says. “I think my liking him is a part of why my issues are so deep.”

“Oh. Is he straight?”

“That’s not exactly something I go around asking,” Dave answers. “Whether he is or isn’t, I’m just not his type. And I really wish that I could accept that and get over him. I don’t know why I fell for him in the first place, but if I could get over him, I could do things right.”

“Believe it or not, I kind of understand,” Kurt says. He’s had a crush on a straight jock who once bullied him, he had a crush on a boy who took forever to wake-up, followed by a semi-messy breakup after said boy did finally wake up, and now, he has a crush on a closeted jock who once bullied him. Someday, he’s going to get it right, dammit.

“Who do you like?”

“Someone I don’t have a chance in hell with,” Kurt answers. “I’m trying my best to get over him before things get out hand.”

“Good luck,” Dave says. “Really. If you find some secret formula, share it with me, okay?”

“No problem.”

0

The latest airplane reads in neat French:  **Karofsky has been in love with you since the Push-It assembly almost three years ago.**

Instead of throwing this one away, Kurt pockets it.

0

He’s looking at the note during Glee when Dave finishes checking on the window and stops next to him. “Is that my name?”

Looking up, Kurt answers, “Oh, yeah.”

“What does it say?”

“It doesn’t matter.” He pockets the note. “It’s from French class. Nothing bad.”

Dave looks like he’s going to argue, but instead, he simply mutters, “Whatever.”

0

After school, Kurt goes to the basketball court and finds himself staring in shock at Finn standing in between Dave and a bloody-nosed Azimio. “Dudes, what in the hell is going on?”

“Z is interfering in things he has no business with,” Dave snaps.

“Yeah, well, I’m tired of you being a little boy and acting like a scared puppy!”

“I’m not a little boy,” Dave snaps.

“Then, man up and make a move.” Azimio shakes his head. “I’m tired of you lying to me, and I’m tired of you-”

“Nobody said you had to be friends with me!”

Going over, Kurt pulls at Dave. “Stop it! Do both of you want to be expelled?”

Dave moves away, but his glare doesn’t waver.

“Kurt, take Azimio to the nurse,” Finn orders.

0

The next day, Kurt spots Dave walking down the hall with the black-and-white stuffed toy, and he has a sinking suspicion it’s about to either lose its stuffing or go for a swim in a toilet.

Feeling rather protective of Davey junior, Kurt steps straight in front of Dave. “Okay.” Prying the stuffed puppy out of Dave’s hands, he says, “You obviously need to work on your anger issues more than I realised. Leave the puppy out of your issues with Azimio.”

He turns, walks to Azimio’s English class, and leaves Davey junior on Azimio’s desk.

Back in the hallway, Dave glowers.

“I’m not scared of you anymore, David,” Kurt reminds him. “Obviously, I don’t know the circumstances behind your fight, but it’s pretty obvious Azimio cares about you. Whatever he did, I don’t think he did it to intentionally hurt you.”

0

Next week, once everyone is settled in at the PFLAG meeting, Kurt watches Dave stand up and is surprised when Dave knocks on the wall.

“I’m gay.”

The announcement is simple and lacking in drama, and it takes Kurt the rest of the meeting to convince himself, no, that was not a surreal daydream on his part.

0

Ringing the doorbell, he waits nervously on the Karofsky’s front porch.

Dr Karofsky opens the door. “Kurt. Come in.”

After he does, suddenly, he’s being asked questions, and creepily, within five minutes, he thinks Dr Karofsky has heard his entire life-story.

“I assume you’re here to see my son?”

“Yes, sir,” Kurt answers.

Dr Karofsky nods. “I know my son has hurt you, Kurt. But I hope you realise that you have the power to hurt David, too.”

“I do, sir. I’m hoping we can both put the hurt behind us.”

“Good,” Dr Karofsky says. “Follow me.”

He leads Kurt to a room. Knocking, he says, “David, you have a visitor.”

Dave opens the door. “Oh.”

Squeezing Dave’s shoulder, he says, “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

Once Dr Karofsky is gone, Kurt blurts out, “So, you’re free to say no, but do you want to go on a date? With me, I mean?”

For a moment, Dave just looks at him. “Are you serious?”

“Yes.” He looks Dave straight in the eyes. “I mean, my dad may try to kill us both, and I’m not sure how yours will react, but I won two gift cards to Breadstix from a bet with Tina, and I thought we could use them tomorrow. Or whenever, if that’s not a good time.”

Dave licks his lips. “Yeah. I-I’d really like that, Kurt.” He reaches his hand out.

Smiling, Kurt takes the hand. “So, assuming neither of our fathers kill us, is tomorrow good?”

“Yeah,” Dave answers.

“Good.”

Then, he takes a deep breath, surges forward, and his lips meet Dave’s.

It’s fairly chaste with only a small hint of the promise of more, but it’s amazing and renders the locker room kiss into a distant memory. When they break apart, Dave is smiling beautifully.

“I’ll call you later, then,” Kurt says. “Bye.”

“Bye,” Dave echoes.

Kurt hurries out of the house. He’s going to need to do a lot of explaining and pleading and who knows what if he ever wants a chance at being Dave’s boyfriend. His father wouldn’t really threaten Dave with a flame-thrower, would he?     

**Author's Note:**

> Author’s Notes: For anyone curious about the backstory of David (Davey) junior, Azimio has always wanted a dog, but his sister’s allergic. One day, Dave was at a fair, and he won a prize in a throwing contest. He saw a stuffed black dog with white spots and floppy ears, choose it, and gave it to Azimio.
> 
> Azimio named it David junior, and even though he’s a teenager, he still sleeps with Davey junior and drags him over when he sleeps at over places. He brought him to the hospital to cheer Paul up.


End file.
